FURTHER NOTES ON THE VENOUS CONNECTIONS OF 
THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM IN THE COMMON RAT. 
THESLE T. JOB. 
As long* ago as 1825 the Italian anatomist, R. Lippi, published 
a paper on * ■ Ulustrazioni fisiologiche e patologiche del sistema 
linfaiicQ-chilifero mediante la seoperta di un gran numero di 
comunieazioni de esso col venoso” in which he brought out the 
fact that the lymphatics not only connect with the veins at the 
Jugulo-subclavian juncture but also join the Inferior Vena Cava 
and Portal vein. J. Jolly .in his work ‘ ‘ Rescherches sur les 
ganglions lymphatiqueS des oiseaux, ” 1910, discredits Lippi’s 
work because he thinks Lippi described the testes of the duck as 
lymphatic nodes ; if such a mistake as this were made, he thinks 
all of Lippi’s work should be doubted. However, this may be 
it is quite evident now that there are lymphatic connections 
with the venous system at other points than the Jugulo-subcla- 
vian taps in the common rat, which, even if they are not con- 
stant, appear at least in a good percentage of cases. Whether 
they are constant or variable is significant as will be shown 
later. 
Two years ago the writer presented before this Academy a 
paper “On the Lymphatic System of the Common Rat” in which 
it was shown that the Jugulo-subclavian taps were not the only 
connections in the rat. A portal vein connection was proven 
then, and in addition the renal vein connection found by Chas. 
F. Silvester in the South American monkey, was demonstrated 
in the rat. Moreover, two specimens were observed in which 
there were ilio-lumbar connections. Two instances out of 100 
would seem insignificant, but when one comes to interpreting 
the meaning of venous, connections, they are very important. 
With the renal, portal and ilio-lumbar connections proven, 
the writer wishes to present still another connection, that of the 
inferior vena cava at the level of the lumbar nodes. 
Before considering the proof and significance of these con- 
nections it might be well to point out some; important phases of 
the technic. The stab injection method, which lias been em- 
ployed in these studies, must be used with the greatest care and 
